Loss in title game stings Seahawks after bold baseball tourney run

Over the three-day Colonial Athletic Association baseball tournament at Brooks Field, the UNC-Wilmington baseball team played with a sustained intensity not seen all season.

By Chuck CarreeChuck.Carree@StarNewsOnline.com

Over the three-day Colonial Athletic Association baseball tournament at Brooks Field, the UNC-Wilmington baseball team played with a sustained intensity not seen all season.The consistent play enabled the Seahawks Saturday’s second game with the CAA title and an NCAA Regional berth on the line.Virginia Commonwealth won 7-5 in 12 innings, ending the Seahawks’ season and nearly moving coach Mark Scalf to tears when asked if they could build on this strong finish for next year.“It is going to be tough seeing these guys go,” he said, eyes welling.He was referring to his seniors and some juniors who will be selected in next month’s Major League Baseball Draft.“It is going to hurt for a while,’’ Scalf said.The Seahawks lost in the finals for the second year in a row. Scalf said all end-of-season defeats are difficult.Then he added: “Our seniors have learned a few things along the way to help them down the road in what they are doing. Hopefully, with how this thing played out, our young guys have learned to handle some adverse situations to make a difference for those guys in the future.”Freshman Hunter Ridge, sophomores Tyler McSwain and Thomas Pope, junior Daniel Cropper and seniors Robbie Monday and Matt Holt made the all-tournament team. Ridge and Monday proved key in three consecutive UNCW victories.Monday’s grand slam and Ridge’s three-run home run in the ninth inning in Friday’s first elimination game gave the Seahawks a 10-8 victory over No. 2 Georgia State.UNCW then beat top-seeded James Madison 3-1 in a second elimination game on Friday, while Daniel Cropper’s four-hitter in a 10-0 rout of the third-seeded Rams set up the finale.“Playing with these seniors, they grow on you a lot, especially Robbie (who led the CAA with 20 home runs),’’ Ridge said. “He has grown on pretty much everyone on the team.“I would say he is the big talker of the team and gets everybody pumped up – him and Mike Rooney. It is just hard to see these guys go out like they did. I just wish things had ended better.”Ridge led the Seahawks with a .348 batting average for the season.In the final game, UNCW (33-27) left 13 runners on base and scored only one earned run because of five Rams’ errors.“I have to give (the Rams) credit,’’ Scalf said. “Their guys did a great job out of the bullpen. They continued to throw strikes and make pitches when they had to. I thought our guys did, too. Unfortunately, somebody has to win and somebody has to lose. Unfortunately it was us.’’Joe Van Meter’s two-run home run sealed the Seahawks’ fate. He hit the shot off Stephen Harrold (3-3). It was the lone hit allowed in 4 1/3 innings in relief.“He threw the baseball extremely well,’’ Scalf said. “He did a great job for us. Van Meter put a good swing on a good pitch. The slider was down in the zone.’’Van Meter, voted Most Outstanding Player, thought he hit a mistake out of the park.“It was a mistake pitch,’’ he said. “He threw me a fastball, and the next one was a hanging curve ball. He left it up and I capitalized on the mistake.’’Both he and Rams’ coach Paul Keyes said the wind blew in the entire tournament, but just before the game-winner, the flags went limp.“The ball had not been carrying all day, and I looked over at the flag and it is down and Joe’s ball just crept over the wall,” Keyes said.“You have to give Wilmington so much credit. It was a tough year for them because they had such good expectations (picked to finish second in the league, but was the tourney fourth seed) and they finished so strong. They took us to the limit and basically had the game won. They made a mistake that opened the door for us to extend it.”The Seahawks had a 5-1 lead and the Rams pulled within a run before tying it in the eighth on the only unearned run UNCW allowed.UNCW has won two CAA titles in the past seven years. This year’s title was the Rams’ fifth crown since 2002.“It is a tough game to end the season,’’ Scalf said. “We are extremely proud of the way our guys handled themselves all week. A lot of people wrote us off after the first day, when we let one get away … I feel confident our players gave us everything they had over the last three days.”

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